Portofino Launch and picture thread

On the subject of the Cali, Cali T and Portofino rear design the angle of the pictures below makes justice to the three rears and lets us compare the differences.





Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I quite like the Cali T rear end. I'm not sure on the PF rear end though in the shots above.

I can understand the wish to make it appear wider and lower, but am unconvinced by the execution.
That said, as mentioned by 4th Gear above, camera-phone photos from motor show stands can be distorted by the lens.

We have put a deposit down on a PF with expected delivery December 19 but the dealer has said it is refundable until we have had a chance to look over and approve a real car at the London dealer launch in November this year. That seems fair. I hope its the allumino opaco car.

 

I think the PF will look fine in the flesh.

It's unfortunate so much of our impressions of new cars are influenced by initial photos, mostly quickly taken at car shows and the reactions of car journalists who often like to make provocative or premature comments. Most of these people are not really experts on the cars, on design or photography. They make a quick comment and move on to the next car or car topic.

My long term impression on these cars is that they all need to be slightly lowered. They also need better wheels.

As hardtop convertibles, the rear quarters of these Fcars are naturally proportioned like those on their coupé siblings so they will always look a bit muscular in the haunches. That is actually what you want to find because it is part of the staggered wheel look. The rear wheels are substantially wider than the front and the rear quarter panels have to contain those wide wheels or they will stick out, look silly and create rooster tails in the rain. So when a journalist says negative things about the rear of these cars, he/she is just being ignorant. Performance cars with staggered wheels look and work a lot better as "sports cars" than cars without staggered wheels/axles.

The proper way to view these cars is in person. When I size up a car I try to visualize the whole car from my vantage point and check the proportions of the various highlights of its form and then I hold that image in my mind. I move in and out, move left and right to gauge the changes to my initial impression. When I feel I have understood what the car design is meant to project I move to a distance and angle where my "camera" will record a reasonable facsimile of my mental image.

I have to attend an appointment in a few minutes but when I get time I'll post some more photos of my car on the official Cali photos thread, if anyone's interested to look.

 

Well if its clay it will be easy to move the steering wheel over !

Seriously, i'm not worried if its June 18, or if the car I see is LHD, the point is that the dealer has said the deposit is returnable until we have seen the actual car.
I thought that was a reasonable position for them to take.

 

really liking the Portofino tail. i have a first gen California and i try to never view it from behind

 

Agreed, but I have learnt to love the J-Lo buttox of the CaliTHS and honestly to my eyes the flow and design of the California is quite beautiful. This Portofino is definitely going to sell very well for Ferrari but I am still unsure of the side and front views which I think are somewhat lost in trying to be different but not achieving anything complete. I will wait to see it in person for final judgement!

 

Wow! You must really love the car, to buy and keep it in spite of trying to never view it from behind.

 

i bought it because i wanted a hardtop convertible and it was my only option for an exotic. it was a practical purchase

 

I guess I am a bit different with car purchases, as not even my pickup truck purchase was entirely practical. I'm surprised you would buy an exotic based on practicality.

Perhaps your impression of the Cali's rear is partly in jest. For instance, from this angle the red car's butt is pretty much as prominent as the one on the white car... and the white car can stow a foldable roof in its boot as well.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

not even joking a little. its hideous. on par with a modern lexus. i do almost everything unemotionally from a practical perspective. my current real estate agent says she has never in 30 years met a buyer like myself

 

That's unfortunate, I hope your Cali replacement will change matters for you. As for me, cars and driving are a passion so I only buy cars I like and then I keep them as long as I enjoy them.

I think Pininfarina did a good job on the Cali and FWIW I also like the GTO.

 

I'm enjoying the discussion so far, particularly on the design end.

I think overall Ferrari attempted to capture some of the spirit of the original 250 California Spider in the newer California while dealing with modern conveniences, a folding hardtop roof, safety restrictions, modern production techniques and more:

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Now, I actually really like the new Portofino, particularly after seeing it in person at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new aggressive looks and overall proportions appeal to me (opinions vary as we've seen so far!). I would personally agree that there is a little more "corporate" design going on with the new Portofino. Clearly an attempt was made to bring the design more in line with other modern/current Ferrari designs (particularly the front engine models):

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Different elements collected from different models. Since we can't go back to the custom coach designs of the past, most modern cars just seem to give nods to some of the history of the past which the Portofino captures a little bit:

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login


I don't think the Portofino will go down as one of the less desirable designs out of Ferrari. Plus, Ferrari has certainly had more than a few that have been polarizing (or at least highly debated/controversial) over the years - Mondial anyone?.

Looking forward to the configurator going live and debating what I do next. I may sit the first year out and wait and see. Either way, I like what I've seen so far.

Keep the discussions going!

 

The Portofino rear end looks quite modern and stylish

I’m afraid that the rear end of the Cali’s NA and T aren’t very visually attractive, in comparison. They don’t catch my eye at all.

I think that the Portofino looks very much like the little brother of the 812. I’d bet that Portofino owners will be correcting and educating mistaken admirers

 

Well, that's your opinion and not necessarily as universal as you would have it appear.

While I understand how the PF's grey plastic extruded exhaust "cluster" echos similar features in the 812S and in particular the LaF I felt that feature looked a bit too prominent on the 812S when I saw it in person and the photos of the PF seems to also seem to give me a similar impression. Seeing one in person would confirm if it's just the camera lens distortions.

Here are a couple of rear shots of my NA Cali30 - maybe CaliT owners will also post photos of their cars for comparison. As with the "old" FIAT side markers, I kind of like it.

Regarding the NA aspect of the Cali30, you should have heard my car at last weekend's FCA wine tour. It was ridiculous in sound (and throttle response). I'll have to try and make an audio clip but I'm afraid the neighbours will call the cops.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I don't dislike the rear ends of the Cali NA and the T and I think each of them has it's own personality and materializes the designer idea and possible solution for a bulky boot problem due to the fact that the roof has to be stored somewhere when it's down. From the various pictures I've seen showing the different angles of the Portofino rear, I think Ferrari has done an extremely good design job. One of the aspects that is evident in the Californias while looking at the cars side ways, is the fact that the top section of the boot seems to be quite elevated in relation to the rest of the car. The transition lines from the end of the doors, through the rear fenders until the boot are noticeable and not smooth enough. The Portofino IMO has this difficult design problem of the boot better solved and when we look at the car profile the visual impression is that the boot top section sits lower than in the case of the Californias and the transition to the other sections of the car is also smother.

About the Portofino looking like the little brother of the 812. When this thread started someone mentioned the Portofino lines seen side ways reminded him of the F12 and at the time I published the picture below. I see in the Portofino profile view some lines of the F12 but agree with you that there are angles from where it reminds the 812. IMO the only part where the Portofino hasn't any influence of the 812 is on the rear side which far better designed.






Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Portofino side profile design really growing on me.

 

I always thought the Cali took design cues from the 599, the CaliT took cues from F12, and it seems to me the Portofino takes cues from the 812.

We will likely keep our T for a long time, although I really like the Portofino. At this point I want to add 12 cylinders...

 

Anyone know the tire dimensions on the Portofino? Thanks K think I found them, same as my CaliTHS.

Front tires 245/35ZR20
Rear tires 285/35ZR20

 

Inspiration for the side vents from the SP30?

Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Doubt anyone would disagree with that. The cars look remarkably similar, especially and obviously when the Portofino has her roof up.

 

Plus it has very similar wheels to the 812

 

Well spotted Geert !

 

I think Portofino will end up being one of the most successful Ferraris to date. It just looks so complete. When California T was launched, the car certainly improved also then, but engine wise there must have been mixed feelings about losing the naturally aspirated engine. Portofino has non of such problems as it is now compared to California T and according to Ferrari the sounds are better than in its predecessor.

Specification wise Portofino seems to have improved significantly almost on every area. Lets recap some specs:

Interestingly, even though the car has become wider by 2.8 cm (increase of 1.5%) the overall drag has apparently reduced because Cd value has dropped from 0.33 to 0.312 (decrease of 5.5%). It is likely the overall drag has reduced at least 4%. This is significant improvement for a wider and more powerful car requiring more cooling.

Dry weight has reduced from 1625 kg to 1545 kg. Decrease of 80 kg (-4.9%)
Kerb weight has reduced from 1730 kg to 1664 kg. Decrease of 66 kg (-3,8%)

Not sure why dry weight has reduced more than kerb weight. Portofino has 2 liters larger fuel tank (78 vs 80 liters), which is apparently a natural consequence of chassis getting wider. But that explains only 1.5 kg of the 14 kg difference.

The power has increased from 560 to 600 hp (increase of 7.1%). The 7th gear maximum torque has increased of from 755 to 760 Nm (increase of 0.7%). This seems less significant, but we don't know yet if Ferrari has chosen to increase torque more than that on the lower gears.

Although announced acceleration times seem to have improved only moderately, 0-100 kph (3.6 vs 3.5 s) and 0-200 kph (11.2 vs 10.8 s), on faster speeds the difference should be much more significant.

It seems the longitudinal dimensions of the chassis and interior have remained identical. However, the new more compact and 20% lighter front seats bring extra 5 cm for rear occupants.

Spec wise the only drawback Portofino may have, is the boot capacity. This is not entirely clear because for California T the boot capacity was announced as 240-340 liters, depending on roof position. For Portofino they have announced only single value of 292 liters. I suspect this is roof on figure. The boot is now same width all the way, so some space appear to be lost on both sides at the very back where California's boot widens a bit. However, that alone does not really explain the difference of 48 liters. I need better comparison pictures to see the differences. It could be that Ferrari is now calculating the boot space differently too.

All in all, Portofino really feels special, packing so many improvements and technical features into such a beautiful package.